Asia stocks rise on waning Greece fears, BoJ move; Nikkei up 2.14%

Forexpros - Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as investors put aside worries if Greece would make good on commitments to uphold austerity measures and bought after the Bank of Japan took measures to halt the yen's strengthening trend. During Asian trading on Wednesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.46%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 0.37%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 Index was up 2.14%. The Greek parliament recent voted to accept austerity measures in exchange for access to a EUR130 billion bailout facility. However, reports emerged that E.U. officials were wary whether all Greek political parties were on board with pushing those measures through, which rattled the market, sending the euro falling and the dollar gaining. A Greek default would send shockwaves through financial systems worldwide. However, Asian markets on Wednesday cast aside those fears to focus instead on Japanese monetary policy. The Bank of Japan added JPY10 trillion to an asset-purchase program and set an inflation goal as a move to halt the currency's strengthening trend. The move won market applause. "The yen is retreating and the world is moving toward more monetary easing as shown by the BOJ, supporting equities," said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., according to Bloomberg. In Hong Kong, the top gainers included Sino Pacific, up 4.35%, Henderson Land, up 4.19%, and SHK Prop, up 3.65%. In Australia, the top gainers included Gunns Limited, up 11.76%, Westfield Group, up 5.85%, and The Reject Shop, up 5.55%. European stock futures indicated a higher opening. France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.68%, while Germany 's DAX 30 futures signaled a gain of 0.51 %. Meanwhile, in the U.K., the FTSE 100 futures indicated a gain of 0.44%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.50% while the S&P 500 futures were up 0.55%. Later Wednesday, the U.K. is to produce official data on the claimant count change, an important signal of overall economic health, as well as unemployment data. Also during the day, the Bank of England is to publish its Inflation Report, and Governor Mervyn King is due to hold a press conference to discuss the numbers afterwards. Switzerland is to produce data on ZEW economic expectations, a leading gauge of economic health. In the eurozone, France and Germany are to publish preliminary reports on their respective GDP rates. The U.S. is to release a report on the Empire State Manufacturing index, a leading indicator of economic health, followed by data on net foreign purchases of long-term securities. The Federal Reserve is also to publish data on its capacity utilization rate, a key indicator of consumer inflation, as well as on industrial production before releasing the minutes of its latest policy meeting later in the day. The U.S. will also unveil data on its crude oil and gasoline inventories. Forexpros - Forexpros offers an extensive set of professional tools for the Forex, Commodities, Futures and the Stock Market including real-time data streaming, a comprehensive economic calendar, as well as financial news and technical & fundamental analysis by in-house experts. Read more Forex News on Forexpros.com or Follow us on Twitter at @Forexprosnews